Lost Fathers
by Zenna95
Summary: Eerie parallels, Alfons Heiderich and Alphonse Elric. How far do resemblances go? Or is it merely coincidence? HeiXOC, T for implications just to be safe


A/N: I do not own any characters except for Julia Lehmann. Nor do I own FMA. (If I did, Herr Heiderich wouldn't have died.) Also, about the ,,quotation marks," in German writing, quotation marks are at the ,,bottom" at the beginning of the dialogue of a character and the ,,top" at the ending, as exemplified in my writing.

As usual, translations are at the bottom.

Implied AlxWinry

----------

Julia always knew that her lover's work was weakening him; what she didn't know was that someday, he would actually die.

It was rather ironic, actually, when she found out. She had just come from the doctor's office, and was heading to the apartment he had over Gracia's shop with news for the man. But no, when she had come into the flower shop, the kindly matron had burst into tears. When pressed for an explanation, all she found out was that Alfons Heiderich had been shot while working for that new sponsor he had, that Thule Society. Tears blurring her vision, Julia had run away, sprinting down the street as best she could in her skirts. Why? Why did it have to turn out this way? Why couldn't he stay alive to see...? Legs and lungs gave way; the blonde collapsed in an alley, cut off from the main traffic.

***

Edward Elric had taken to wandering the city at night; it helped him sort out his thoughts in a way he couldn't with Al in the house. Sure, it was amazing to have his little brother back, but... it was actually painful, seeing brown hair where he was used to blonde, grey eyes in place of blue. He had grown accustomed to the reserved, sickly rocket scientist, and Al's cheerful helpfulness was annoying so soon after Heiderich's death. He had never thought he would miss the prickly man, but he found that being exactly the case. A thought occurred to him; in the last few months, Alfons had been seeing some girl, Julia something-or-other. Didn't she have a right to know? He'd want Winry to know if _he_ died. A flash of gold caught his attention- who was that, curled up in the alley?

,,Enschuldigung- Sind Sie in Ordnung?" She lifted her head, which had been buried in her skirts, and the ex-alchemist was momentarily stunned- she was a carbon copy of Winry.

,,H-Herr Elrik?" As per usual with these Germans, she pronounced his name wrong, but he was used to it. That's right, this must be that Julia! Ed nodded slowly, crouching to her level.

,,I-ich..." She trailed off, tears welling up, and the blonde teen had only a moment's notice, heralded by a sudden downward tilt of the eyebrows and an angry flash of blue, before the girl started yelling at him.

"Why didn't you tell me Alfons was dead?! You're a right ass, you know that?! You could have at least had the decency to tell me that he wasn't alive anymore, when I'm carrying his child!" Ed blinked; he had known none of this. Then the famous Elric temper kicked in.

"You think you're the only one grieving over this?! He was my goddamn roommate-"

"_My_ lover-"

"You didn't do so much to help him through his illness, did you!?"

"You have no idea what he's been going through! All _you _did was-"

"Try to help him!"

"Piss him off, make him yell more and kill his lungs!" The two glared at each other for a moment, blue eyes holding yellow, fiery gazes steady, before the Elric stopped the staring contest.

,,Es tut mir Leid, Fraulein... you're having a hard time of it too, aren't you?" She snorted, bright blue eyes still blazing.

"You try raising a child in this economy! At least you're allowed to have a job that actually _pays_!" Yellow eyes blinked as an idea hit him.

"Y'know, that might not be such a bad idea..."

***

Alphonse Elric had known his brother to do many things normal people would consider 'insane', but this was the craziest yet.

"Brother?! Who _is_ this? Why is she here?!" The eerie resemblances here scared him, like Mrs. Hughes- _Fraulein Gracia_ he corrected himself sharply, she wasn't married- working downstairs in the flower shop, and Mr. Hugh- _Hansine-_ being a policeman. Finding Winry's doppelganger made the whole experience more traumatizing. She blinked and slid behind Ed, blue eyes frightened.

,,H-Herr Elrik... Es tut mir Leid... Aber dein Bruder scheint glücklich nicht mich zu sehen..." Alphonse still hadn't mastered the language here entirely, so he didn't understand most of the words at the quick pace they were spoken, but the tone was clear enough; she was frightened. And even though it wasn't exactly Winry, Al still felt bad about scaring her.

,,Es tut mir Leid, Fraulein... aber ich spreche nicht viele Deutsch... Ed?" The golden-eyed boy sighed and started speaking in Amestrian- _English_ Al reminded himself.

"This is Heiderich's old girlfriend, Fraulein Julia Lehmann," his older brother's voice took on the Drach- _German-_ accent as the title flowed fluently off his tongue, "And I figured she could stay with us for a while, seeing as she's pregnant and her parents kicked her out of the house." Alphonse's eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course! Es tut mir Leid, Fraulein Lehmann!" The teen immediately kicked into what his brother had cheerfully dubbed 'flustered apology mode,' and the blonde girl laughed.

,,Es ist fein, Herr Elrik. Dank für Lassen das mich bleibe."

***

Months later, the two foreigners found themselves outside a hospital room, just as stressed as if the child being birthed within was fathered by themselves. In fact, the younger of the two looked even more stressed than his brother, who had known the child's true father. The blonde looked over at Alphonse, concerned.

"You okay, Al?" When his only response was a grunt, Edward grew worried.

"Al? Al, what's wrong?" The brown-haired teen buried his head in his knees and mumbled something incoherently. His brother moved closer, tugging on the ends of the locks so close in color to their mother's.

"Winry..." The ex-alchemist grew more confused; what did Winry have to do with this? When he asked, Al's only response was to curl in even more on himself. Concern moved from the nagging sensation in the back of his mind to the forefront of Ed's thoughts.

"Al...? Al, what about Winry? I mean, I know it's gotta be weird without her, but-"

,,Es ist das nicht, Bruder..." The abrupt use of German by his little brother startled Ed. As far as he knew, Al still preferred to talk in Amestrian, although he mostly spoke in German now.

"Brother... I... we... Winry and I..." He trailed off, drawing in a shuddering breath to steady himself. Voice small, the younger continued.

"I kind of... um... Winry... we... um... please don't hate me for this brother but meandWinrykindofhadsexwhileyouweregone," Al finished in a rush. The small sliver of face visible to the outside world was a bright red. Ed's eyes went even wider, but his words were cut off by a loud wail from the room. Closing bright gold eyes, the 'Fullmetal Pipsqueak' tilted his head to the ceiling, restraining a growl. They had _promised_, dammit, neither of them would make a move on the mechanic!

"Al... I won't yell, but.. you'd better hope that nothing comes of it. Or heaven help me, I'll find out and kick your ass." The brunette shrank away, clenching pale brown eyes shut.

"Brother, please... I don't expect to be forgiven, but don't-" Whatever else Al was going to say was cut off by the opening of the door.

,,Herr Elrik? Möchten Sie das Kind sehen? Es ist ein Junge." The blonde looked up and grinned.

,,Ja werde ich. Vielen Dank." Moving towards the room, Edward was mildly shocked to see the child born of his brother's doppelganger's seed. Blonde hair of the same cornsilk color, eyes that would surely brighten to the electric blue of his father's, and just a slight indication of the dead man's stubborn chin; all in all, a near perfect replica of the lost Heiderich. Julia hugged the newborn close, bangs plastered to her forehead with sweat, but looking exhilarated all the same.

,,Danke, Herr Elrik... Dankeschon... er heißt auch Alfons... Möchten Sie ihn halten?" Nodding slightly, Ed moved forward and took the little miracle in his arms. Golden eyes soft, the alchemist murmured in the child's ears, ,,Viel Glück für Leben, kleiner Junge. Weiß, dass Ihr Vater eingeführt zu Ihrem Land gestorben ist."

***

Back in Amestris, Winry Rockbell lay in bed, cradling a two-day-old child in her arms. Though his eyes were currently closed in sleep, she knew that when they turned from their baby blue, they would be the same brown as his father's, as brown as the shock of chestnut hair sprouting from his scalp.

"I love you, Alphonse..." She didn't know whether the quiet murmur was directed at her lost lover or his progeny, but either way it was true.

A/N: I do not own any characters except for Julia Lehmann. Nor do I own FMA. (If I did, Herr Heiderich wouldn't have died.) Also, about the ,,quotation marks," in German writing, quotation marks are at the ,,bottom" at the beginning of the dialogue of a character and the ,,top" at the ending, as exemplified in my writing.

Translations:

_,,Enschuldigung- Sind Sie in Ordnung?": _Excuse me- are you all right? (Formal)

_,,H-Herr Elrik?":_ M-Mr. Elric?

_,,I-ich...":_ I-I...

,,_Es tut mir Leid, Fraulein...":_ I'm sorry, miss...

_Fraulein Gracia_: Miss Gracia

_,,H-Herr Elrik... Es tut mir Leid... Aber dein Bruder scheint glücklich nicht mich zu sehen...": _M-Mr. Elric... I'm sorry... but your brother doesn't seem happy to see me...

_,,Es tut mir Leid, Fraulein... aber ich spreche nicht viele Deutsch...":_ I'm sorry, miss... but I don't speak much German...

,,_Es ist fein, Herr Elrik. Dank für Lassen das mich bleibe.":_ It's fine, Mr. Elric. Thank you for letting me stay.

_,,Danke, Herr Elrik... dankeschon... er heißt auch Alfons_... _möchten Sie ihn halten? : _Thank you, Mr. Elric... Thank you so much... He is also called Alfons... would you like to hold him?

_,,Viel Glück für Leben, kleiner Junge. Weiß, dass Ihr Vater eingeführt zu Ihrem Land gestorben ist.":_ Much luck for life, little boy. Know your father died in service to your country.

If any translations are off, please tell me... my translator isn't the best ^_^''

If reviews are the bread of life, then flames are the swords that end it. Criticism is accepted but please back it up with examples and what you didn't like. Thanx-

Zenna95, aka Zenchan


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